NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
                           MORNING REPORT

To:        All National Park Service Areas and Offices

From:      Division of Ranger Activities, Washington Office

Day/Date:  Tuesday, August 26, 1997

Broadcast: By 1000 ET

INCIDENTS

97-498 - Capitol Reef NP (UT) - Flash Floods

Around 3 p.m. on Thursday, August 21st, a large thunderstorm set off three
simultaneous flash floods in the park's major headquarters area drainages:
Grand Wash, Capitol Gorge, and the Sulphur Creek/Fremont River complex. 
Although serious flood events in the park have been common during this
unusually wet 1997 monsoon season, this was the first time that all three of
these heavily travelled canyons have flooded simultaneously.  Many vehicles
and hikers were temporarily stranded at various points throughout the park's
headquarters district as roads and trail heads were inundated and wash
crossings became impassable.  Initial efforts to evacuate Capitol Gorge were
hampered when a sudden surge in water levels overtook two rescue vehicles,
forcing the occupants to turn back and retreat directly upstream through over
two feet of fast-moving water.  As waters receded, stranded visitors were
evacuated out of the numerous flood areas.  This season's recurring floods
have battered park trails.  Due to scouring and the reshaping of the stream
bed, the popular Sulphur Creek Gorge trail, once a moderate hike through a
deep canyon bottom, now features a mandatory 70 foot swim through deep
narrows in the inner gorge.  Many park roads have also sustained erosion
damage; some backcountry roads in the park are impassable, and the Capitol
Gorge road remains closed to vehicles until the weather moderates.  The
event, which was the third major flood in the park in as many weeks,
attracted media interest from throughout the state.  [Bob Van Belle, Chief of
Operations, CARE, 8/26]

97-499 - Blue Ridge Parkway (VA/NC) - MVA with Fatality and Serious Injuries

A vehicle with five occupants, ranging in age from 12 to 16 years old,
crossed the parkway center line at milepost 12.8, left the road, and struck a
rock wall at 3:45 a.m. on Sunday, August 24th.  A 12-year-old passenger was
killed; two other occupants were evacuated by air to the University of
Virginia shock trauma unit, where they are listed in critical condition with
numerous and extensive injuries.  The oldest occupant was the 16-year-old
driver, who was admitted to an area hospital but is expected to recover. 
Speed is believed to have been the major contributing factor, as there is no
evidence of either alcohol or drug impairment.  The driver had been cited in
nearby Waynesboro the previous evening for traveling 71 mph in a 25 mph zone. 
The names of the juveniles are being withheld.  [CRO, BLRI, 8/25]

97-500 - President's Park (DC) - Demonstration Arrests

On August 22nd, Park Police officers arrested 15 members of the American
Coalition for Filipino Veterans after they chained themselves to the White
House fence.  All were charged with demonstrating without a permit and
released following processing.  [Bill Lynch, RLES, NCRO, 8/25]

97-501 - Great Basin NP (NV) - Assist; Search and Recovery

At the request of the White Pine County sheriff's office, park emergency
personnel responded to a possible drowning at the Silver Creek reservoir,
just outside park boundaries, on August 16th.  In the absence of county
officers, rangers and EMTs organized and carried out a search effort which
culminated with the discovery of the body of 18-year-old K.M. by
seasonal ranger and rescue diver Scott Larson.  Recovery was made within six
hours of the drowning.  [Joe Fowler, CR, GRBA, 8/24]

97-502 - Santa Monica Mountains NRA (CA) - Special Event

On August 23rd, about 2,100 people attended the "Reggae at the Ranch" concert
at the Paramount Ranch.  There were no significant EMS incidents despite
temperatures in the upper 90s.  There were also few controlled substance
incidents due to a no smoking policy in the concert area.  The permit holder
reported the theft of $3,000 in a payment dispute with one of the
entertainers.  Rangers detained all suspects and resolved the issue.  During
the event, rangers responded to other areas of the park for a motor vehicle
accident, a wildland fire, and a report of indecent behavior in public. 
District ranger Greg Jackson served as NPS liaison; eight law enforcement
personnel worked the event.  [Jon Dick, CR, SAMO, 8/25]

                   [Additional reports pending...]

FIRE ACTIVITY

NATIONAL PREPAREDNESS LEVEL - Level II

LARGE FIRE/INCIDENT SUMMARY 

                                                     Sun      Mon    %   Est
State      Unit              Fire/Incident   IMT     8/24     8/25  Con  Con

OR   Burns District          Cottonwood Creek --    1,650    2,000  100  CND 
                             Mann Lake        --      600      600  100  CND 

UT   Cedar City District     Pine Park        --      220      233   45  8/27

Heading Notes

     Unit --    Agency = BIA area; NF = national forest; RU = CA state resource
                or ranger unit; RD = state ranger district; District = BLM
                district; NWR = USFWS wildlife refuge
     Fire --    * = newly reported fire (on this report); Cx = complex 
     IMT --     T1 = Type 1; T2 = Type II; ST = State Team
     % Con --   Percent of fire contained
     Est Con -- Estimated containment date; NEC = no estimated date of
                containment; CND = fully contained; NR = no report

NUMBER OF NEW FIRES (FIVE DAY TREND) 

                    NPS    BIA      BLM     FWS    States   USFS     Total

Thursday, 8/21       2      2        13       0       56     92       165
Friday, 8/22         0      9        11       0       51     51       122
Saturday, 8/23       2      2        20       0       35     49       108
Sunday, 8/24         2      3        12       1       34     30        82
Monday, 8/25         3      7        12       0       34     34        90

TOTAL COMMITTED RESOURCES (FIVE DAY TREND) 

                  Crews     Engines    Helicopters    Airtankers   Overhead

Thursday, 8/21      83        180          31            11           293
Friday, 8/22        60        128          14             4           253
Saturday, 8/23      51        119          20            11           249
Sunday, 8/24        40         88          18             1           260
Monday, 8/25        35         72          17             0           188

CURRENT SITUATION

Large fires continued to burn yesterday in the eastern Great Basin. 
Containment objectives were achieved on large fires in the Northwest.  Minor
initial attack was reported elsewhere.  Very high to extreme fire indices
were reported in California, Arizona, Nevada and Oregon.

[NICC Incident Management Situation Report, 8/26]

RESOURCE MANAGEMENT

Reports pending.

OPERATIONAL NOTES

No submissions.

MEMORANDA

No submissions.

EXCHANGE

No submissions.

OBSERVATIONS

This section, which appears intermittently in the Morning Report, contains
observations regarding the National Park Service, the System and the several
professions of park employees.  Today's observation has been excerpted from a
collection of quotations entitled "John Muir: In His Own Words," compiled and
edited by Peter Browning (Great West Books, 1988).  

"Most civilized folks cry morbidness, lunacy upon all that will not weight on
Fairbank's scales or measure to that seconds rod of English brass.  But we
know that much that is most real will not counterpoise cast-iron, or dent our
human flesh."

                                      John Muir, October, 1871, from
                                      "John of the Mountains"

                                *  *  *  *  *

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Prepared by the Division of Ranger Activities, WASO, with the cooperation and
support of Delaware Water Gap NRA.

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